Seasons
by Ms. H. Scarlet
Summary: She's been drowning every day of her life, but she never thought she could be happy about it until she was drowning in Cat's chocolate brown eyes.


I don't own anything, obviously.

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><p>Cat has a teacup fetish. Their subtle elegance and fragility reminds her of Jade. When asked about it, she mutters something about porcelain skin and sapphire saucers. Everyone dismisses her; she's crazy, after all.<p>

Jade has a secret love of piano music. She keeps the CDs buried in a box under her bed, right next to a stuffed pink bunny named Darcy. Cat gave him to Jade for her birthday years ago, long before she turned so cold and bitter. He has a brown mustache that twirls up on the ends and the absurdity of it makes her smile. Sometimes, when she's too tired to fight the darkness alone, she drags them out from under her bed. Sitting in her blood red armchair, she clutches the stuffed rabbit close to her chest and lets the music fill her to the brim. She lets it because it forces her emotions out to make room for itself. It numbs her. Nights like these leave crusty, black make-up streaks on the soft plush toy and stains on her shirt sleeves.

The red-head knows, somehow. She always sees what other people fail to notice with such clarity. The nearly invisible black smudges on the cuff of Jade's right sleeve catch her eye. She stares for too long and gets punished with a glare as the blue-eyed girl yanks her sleeve down and clutches it in her fist. Cat sees the poorly disguised bags under Jade's bloodshot eyes and it makes her frown.

The next day, Jade opens her locker to find a Tide-to-go pen resting on the shelf in front of her Calculus text book. The orange cap has been colored pink with a marker, and Jade catches herself smiling without meaning to. The uninvited and unexpected emotion, despite its small size, causes her to scowl and throw the stain remover away immediately. She's running out of room to hide things, after all. Her bed is only so big and she bought another CD yesterday (she ordered it online, of course. She wouldn't be caught dead buying one in a store where tattletales like Vega could see her). That day, she storms home from school and curls up on her bed with Darcy and her battered copy of Wuthering Heights.

She doesn't remember falling asleep but suddenly she's startled awake by a clap of thunder. The brunette shakes her head in the hopes of ridding it of grogginess and her never-ending nightmares. She clutches the stuffed animal tighter to her and cringes at the new crease in the pages of her worn book. "Books are not pillows," she mutters and turns the music on her ipod up to drown out the sound of the storm.

It's fall now. Jade revels in the death around her - the leaves falling away to reveal the skeletons of trees before browning and disintegrating underfoot. It morbidly reminds her of cremation - the leaves were vibrant and lively one day and then they caught fire and burned until they turned to dust. Seasons changed, things died, life went on.

Cat rejoices in the colors; she picks bouquets of brilliantly coloured leaves and trots around the school, giving them to anyone who will accept. She doesn't hesitate to give one to Jade. "The red brings out your eyes," she says. Jade brushes her off and throws the leaves away but comes to school the next day with red extensions in her hair.

Autumn soon changes to winter, and Jade's mood changes with it. Part of her welcomes the cold; it's refreshing to have her emotions reflected in the icy weather. Cat watches her as she shakes the snowflakes from her hair one day. The smaller girl giggles and smiles because Jade suddenly reminds her of a puppy. "The snowflakes never stay long in my hair. I don't think they like me," she pouts and shrugs before she skips down the hall. Jade wonders if the fire in Cat's hair or the fire in her heart is more likely to melt them away.

Christmas is just around the corner and when Cat bounces up to her in a Santa hat and a sweater with reindeer on it, Jade can't help but smile. "I got you a candy cane!" Cat says, slapping her hands over her mouth afterwards, her eyes going comically wide. The red-head smiles sheepishly and shrugs. "Oops. I wanted it to be a surprise, but now you know."

Jade's candy cane-gram gets delivered to her right before lunch and she realizes she didn't need Cat to tell her that she sent her one. Scrawled on the attached red and green paper is a note in Cat's handwriting - she knows no one else who would dots their 'i's with hearts.

_Your smile reminds me of snowflakes._

Jade frowns slightly and tucks the note away, fodder for the box beneath her bed. She asks Cat about it as they walk to lunch and Cat reaches out to touch one of Jade's blue extensions as she answers.

"It's one of a kind but it melts too quickly if you try to hold onto it." The red-head smiles sadly and Jade cringes at the sight. Cat doesn't wear sadness well. She tries to think of something to take the emotion off of Cat's face, but realizes that it's gone already. Cat grins up at her for no apparent reason and Jade blinks stupidly before pulling a small box out of her book bag.

"I got you something." She runs her fingers over the lines of the box in her hands, hesitating before awkwardly thrusting it at her friend. (Were they friends?)

Cat shrieks and jumps up and down, taking the box from Jade and ripping the top off. Inside is a red velvet cupcake, edible glitter making the cream cheese frosting sparkle like snow. Cat's eyes light up and her smile blinds Jade like a camera flash, the image echoing behind her eyelids every time she blinks.

"Thank you, Jade!" And it's astounding, because Cat knows that Jade isn't nice to anyone. She makes it a point not to be, in fact. She figures that if she isn't nice to anyone, no one will be nice to her which is perfect. She believes that when someone is nice to her, she owes them something in return because she can't fathom why anyone would selflessly give up their time to be kind to someone as selfish as herself. No one sane would do such a thing, that's certain. Jade didn't want to owe anyone anything. Responsibility and kept promises were never her thing - she got that from her father.

Cat bounces up on her tiptoes and throws her arms around Jade's neck, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek that pops when she pulls away. The bubbly girl giggles again.

"Red really does bring out your eyes."

Jade wills the blood away from her cheeks.

New Years passes and Valentines Day arrives. Cat is nothing but an excited ball of sunshine and smiles - even more than usual. "It's my holiday!" she tells everyone.

Jade hates Valentine's Day. Even though she specifically told him that she'd castrate him if he even mentioned the significance of the day, let alone got her anything, she was still a little disappointed that Beck didn't make an effort to acknowledge their relationship. In fact, he seemed more distant than usual. She watches the Vega sisters receive flowers and chocolate and it makes her hate the day even more.

The red-head approaches her at the end of the day and Jade is surprised by the girl's subdued mood and shy smile. Cat reaches into her bag and produces a valentine in the shape of a teacup, little red and pink hearts decorating the handle and rim of the cup. She stuffs it in Jade's hand and scurries away before the brunette can react.

Jade opens the card warily and examines the writing inside, reading it several times before tucking it into her bag. She was going to need a bigger box.

_I'll be your Valentine._

"Cat!" she yells down the hallway. Maybe it's a bad thing, wanting some comfort so desperately. Scratch that, it's a horrible thing. She knows it. Maybe it's because she's PMSing, or because her father had spent yet another evening tearing her down, or because this is her third day running on empty since she's too scared to fall asleep due to the nightmares, but she sprints after Cat like her life depends on it.

After searching the quickly emptying school for her friend (they were definitely friends now - they had been since Christmas), she dejectedly lopes out to the parking lot and her empty, waiting car. As she nears it, she glances up, surprised and very nearly overjoyed to find a nervous Cat sitting on the hood and picking at her nails. Their eyes meet and suddenly nothing else matters to Jade. Nothing. Not Beck, not her father, not this shitty excuse for a holiday, or the box of tears under her bed. She's been drowning every day of her life, but she never thought she could be happy about it until she was drowning in Cat's chocolate brown eyes.

Cat doesn't remember getting off the hood of the car, and Jade doesn't remember when she threw her backpack and purse on the ground but it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is their lips pressed together. Cat's back is doing a damn fine job of molding into the car behind her and Jade doesn't think she'll ever be able to untangle her hands from Cat's fiery red hair.

When she pulls away, Cat studies her and thinks that she's never seen Jade's eyes sparkle quite so much. Jade smiles as she looks down at Cat who is positively beaming. Jade frowns suddenly, a puzzled expression painting her face and Cat's smile falters.

"Why was your valentine in the shape of a teacup?" Jade asks, fingers still running through Cat's hair. Cat's smile returns and she chuckles.

"I know you're not really as tough as you pretend to be." Jade's eyebrow quirks at Cat's cryptic answer, her piercing glinting slightly in the afternoon sun. Cat looks down, biting her lip. "I found your CDs last time I was over." Jade nods, accepting the answer before kissing Cat once more.

Spring arrives and with Cat's help, it melts some of the ice in Jade's heart. Jade surprises her with teacups from time to time and Cat burns her CDs that she doesn't have to hide because they're covered in pink marker and goofy stickers and don't advertise their contents. Cat is there to wipe away Jade's tears ("Poor Darcy!" she exclaims one day after pulling him out from under the bed. "How am I going to get these stains off?") and Jade is there to anchor Cat when she's afraid of drifting away and drowning in her own mind. Their relationship is as fragile as Jade's smiles and Cat's emotions but it works somehow.

People confront them about it - tell them that they won't be together for long. How can they? They're sure to break each other sooner or later.

"Fragile things are the most beautiful," they respond. "When you're given something so breakable, you treasure it, keep it close to your heart, and coddle it in order to keep it from shattering."

"Like a teacup!" Cat exclaims. Jade nods and kisses her forehead.

"Or a symphony," Jade says with a smile. "Even the best pieces have their low notes."


End file.
